The Lost Art of Mercy

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, “Lord,
when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when
saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?” And the King shall
answer and say unto them, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
—Matthew 25:37–40

James famously wrote that faith without works is dead. Apart from introducing
soteriological difficulties for some future theologians, he was making the case
that the Christian must express his faith through acts of mercy, like feeding
the poor and caring for the widows and orphans. All who take the name of Christ
agree with this—for how could we argue against the idea of clothing the
naked and feeding the hungry when James’s kin admonished us to do the
same when he said, “Inasmuch as you have done this unto one of the least
of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”?

Peter Chrysologus was a fifth-century bishop who was famous for his sermons
(“Chrysologus” was his nickname and means “The Golden Orator”).
Like James, he taught that acts of mercy are critical to the Christian life,
just as prayer and fasting are.

There are three things, brethren, three, through which faith stands firm,
devotion abides, and virtue endures: prayer, fasting, and mercy. What prayer
knocks for upon the door, fasting successfully begs and mercy receives. Prayer,
fasting, and mercy: these three are a unit. They give life to one another.
For fasting is the soul of prayer; and mercy is the life of fasting.

He went on to say that prayer, fasting, and mercy must go together: “If
a man has only one of them, or if he does not have all of them simultaneously,
he has nothing.” All of them are gifts we bring to God, like the gifts
the wise men of old brought to the Christ-child: frankincense for worship (e.g.,
“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of
my hands as the evening sacrifice!” [Psalm 141:2]), myrrh for the preparation
for death (i.e., akin to fasting), and gold for mercy.

Chrysologus also discussed how, if we only offer to God the gifts of prayer
and fasting, we do not produce fruit:

But to make these gifts acceptable, follow them up with mercy. Fasting does
not germinate unless watered by mercy. When mercy dries up, fasting suffers
drought, for mercy is to fasting what rain is to the earth. The man who is
fasting may prepare his heart, cleanse his flesh, pull out his vices, and
sow virtues. Nevertheless, if he does not sprinkle his plants with streams
of mercy, he does not gather his harvest.

During Lent many Christians increase their prayers and their practice of fasting,
but sometimes neglect to practice the art of mercy. In some ways it is a harder
thing to do. Perhaps that is why the author of the Didache admonished
us to “let your alms sweat in your hands,” for an act that produces
sweat requires hard work.

But mercy is not just the giving of alms. There were coins available in Jesus’
time, but he didn’t say, “I passed the collection plate and you
put money therein.” And while food and clothing can be purchased with
money, Jesus and James also told us to take in the stranger and visit the prisoner;
such things money cannot buy. Acts of mercy should extend beyond our checkbook.
They should saturate our life. We must give away something of ourselves.

Let us remember to water our other virtues with the streams of mercy.

The quotation from Peter Chrysologus is taken from his 43rd Sermon: “Prayer,
Fasting, and Almsgiving.”

Thomas S. Buchanan is a member of the Orthodox Church and lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania, with his wife and three children.

“The Lost Art of Mercy” first appeared in the April 2004 issue of Touchstone. If you enjoyed this article, you'll find more of the same in every issue.

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